There was a small but important piece in the Independent this week by my former boss John Kampfner. He’s not my boss any more, so I don’t have to be nice to him. But it really was rather good.
John simply pointed out that political journalism goes in cycles of hype and condemnation. Thus, just after his election as Labour leader, Gordon Brown could do no wrong — until he failed to call a snap election, after which everything he did turned to dust.
So where once sat Teflon-coated David Cameron, we now find a man presiding over an omnishambles, and it is very difficult to find anyone saying ‘I agree with Nick’ these days. Meanwhile, Ed Miliband has been transformed from a clown to a man who has ‘found his mojo’.
There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon.
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